# The money brief: the tool sequence for AI assistants

> Call get_money_brief once for "how is the business going / what can I pay myself". Relay headline, the top of needs_you and the first lever. Every amount is integer cents. The answer is compact by default (the first 8 trajectory weeks, with weeks_total); pass detail "full" for all. get_owner_pay_plan is the pay plan alone; get_envelope_targets is the tax and buffer targets and the gap. All three are read-only and advice only — say the transfers are the owner's to make.

URL: https://biloh.com.au/docs/reference/money-brief-for-agents
Category: Reference | Audience: agent | Updated: 2026-11-08

**At a glance**

- **Who it's for:** AI assistants working in a Biloh business
- **What it does:** [What you can pay yourself this week](https://biloh.com.au/capabilities/money-brief)
- **Tools it uses:** [`get_money_brief`](https://biloh.com.au/connect#get_money_brief) · [`get_owner_pay_plan`](https://biloh.com.au/connect#get_owner_pay_plan) · [`get_envelope_targets`](https://biloh.com.au/connect#get_envelope_targets) · [`propose_payment_reminders`](https://biloh.com.au/connect#propose_payment_reminders) · [`get_aged_payables`](https://biloh.com.au/connect#get_aged_payables) · [`update_setting`](https://biloh.com.au/connect#update_setting)
- **What a person approves:** Biloh never moves money: its tools record payments that already happened, and a pay-now link opens the business's own Stripe checkout for its client.
- **Checked against the code:** 2026-11-08

This is what an assistant calls when the person it works for asks how the business is going or
what they can pay themselves. One call answers it. Amounts are integer cents: `81250` is $812.50.

**Biloh never moves money: its tools record payments that already happened, and a pay-now link opens the business's own Stripe checkout for its client.**

## The tools

| Tool | Use it for |
| --- | --- |
| `get_money_brief` | The whole picture in one call — start here |
| `get_owner_pay_plan` | The pay plan alone: "what can I pay myself", "when am I caught up with the tax" |
| `get_envelope_targets` | What should be in the tax and buffer accounts now, what is, and the gap |

All three take the same optional inputs: `as_of_date` (`YYYY-MM-DD`, default today in the
business's timezone), `include_test` (default false) and, for the first two, `detail`
(`summary`, the default, or `full`). None has side effects.

## What get_money_brief returns

Relay `headline`, the top of `needs_you` and the first entry of `levers`; read the rest when asked.

| Field | What it holds |
| --- | --- |
| `headline` | One sentence: this pay day's three transfers |
| `needs_you` | Plain sentences, most urgent first |
| `pay_day` | `this_pay_day`, `tax_transfer_cents`, `buffer_transfer_cents`, `drawings_transfer_cents`, `planned_weekly_drawings_cents`, `safe_weekly_drawings_cents`, `steady_state_drawings_cents`, `caught_up_date` |
| `plan_narrative` | The dated plan in words |
| `cash.accounts[]` | `name`, `purpose`, `balance_cents`, `target_cents` (null when the account's purpose has no target), `target_basis`, `feed_stale` |
| `receivables` | `overdue_count`, `overdue_cents`, `open_cents`, `oldest_overdue[]` |
| `payables.due_within_7_days` | `count`, `total_cents` and `items[]` — contractor bills falling due in the next seven days |
| `levers[]` | `key`, `label`, `impact`, `pay_effect_cents_per_week`, `next_tool` |
| `plan` | The whole pay plan, as `get_owner_pay_plan` returns it |
| `next_tools` | Where to go next, by purpose |
| `advice_only` | Always `true` |

The plan's `trajectory.weeks` holds the first 8 pay days by default, with `weeks_total` and a
`weeks_note`; call again with `detail: "full"` for every week. The narrative and milestones are
never trimmed.

## Reading the pay plan

In `get_owner_pay_plan`, `this_pay_day` is today on a pay day, otherwise the next one.
`this_week` holds the transfers net of anything already drawn or moved, and
`planned_weekly_drawings_cents` is the owner's pay. Figures are weekly averages over the business's
lookback window; each dated tax bill is paid from a sinking fund on its due date. Read `warnings`
and `data_notes` aloud when they are present — they say what the plan could not see.

## Reading the envelope targets

`get_envelope_targets` returns, per envelope, `target_cents`, `actual_cents` (from the chained bank
balance), `delta_cents` (positive means short) and `advice`
(this week's transfer from the pay plan; `lump_sum_advice` keeps the whole gap). The tax target
includes an income-tax provision only once the business has set its percentage:
until then it says `provision_unset`. An envelope with no account registered says
`no_account_registered` and still shows the target.

## Acting on a lever

A lever names its `next_tool`. Collecting overdue invoices is `propose_payment_reminders` — a
staged send that goes out only after the person approves it
([the chasing sequence](/docs/reference/chasing-overdue-invoices-for-agents)). Changing the plan's
tax percentage or buffer pace is `update_setting`; contractor bills by age are
`get_aged_payables`. Every send stays two-step: preview, then the person's yes.

## What to say about money

Never tell the person a transfer has been made or scheduled. Say what to move, to which account,
and that they make it in their bank; the bank feed pairs it afterwards.

## Related

- [Read your money brief (how-to)](/docs/how-to/read-your-money-brief)
- [Envelopes: the tax set-aside and the contractor buffer](/docs/concepts/envelopes-tax-set-aside-and-contractor-buffer)
- [Finance MCP tools](/docs/reference/finance-mcp-tools)